DOG heading to Astoria after threatening message

The Port of Astoria remained on heightened alert this morning, although authorities have decided the threat that triggered the alarm poses little danger.

And in response, the U.S. Coast Guard is ramping up vessel security operations this week.

Interim Astoria Police Chief Alan Oja said representatives of law enforcement, the Port and the U.S. Coast Guard met Tuesday to discuss the threat: a message left on a Port office answering machine that was reported Monday morning.

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“We cannot afford to take any discovery, however minor, about this stuff and not consider it seriously,” said Capt. Peter Troedsson, commander of Coast Guard Group Astoria. “We take the actions we think are appropriate and try to keep our awareness up.”

Those actions include a “surge” in vessel security operations in the Port area, said Lt. j.g. Adam Davenport, a pilot at Air Station Astoria and public affairs officer for the Group.

Random law enforcement boardings – when Coast Guard crews board vessels to check for compliance with various laws and regulations – are part of normal operations. But the number of boardings will climb as Cape Disappointment and Astoria crews are joined by personnel from Portland, San Francisco and New York, along with specially trained teams from the Coast Guard’s Deployable Operations Group.